AILA Presents United We Dream with the 2011 Advocacy Award

SAN DIEGO, CA - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will award United We Dream with the 2011 Advocacy Award for the group's outstanding efforts in support of positive immigration legislation, specifically the DREAM Act. Representatives from the organization will receive the award on June 16, 2011, during AILA's Annual Conference to be held in San Diego, CA.

As a national immigrant youth-led organization, the mission of the United We Dream Network (UWD) is to achieve equal access to higher education for all people, regardless of immigration status. UWD aims to address the inequities and obstacles faced by immigrant youth and to develop a sustainable, grassroots movement, led by immigrant youth - both documented and undocumented - and children of immigrants. Leadership development, organizing, policy advocacy, alliance building, training and capacity building are all used to pursue their mission at the local, state and national levels.

The fight to expand immigrant youth access to higher education and legal status over the past nine years has produced a steadily growing stream of immigrant youth activists who have become politically engaged through high school and campus organizations, national coalitions, internet blogs, and youth projects within immigrant rights organizations. UWD is proud to facilitate youth organizing in regions like the Heartland, Southeast, and Midwest, which have had rapid immigrant population increases in recent years and little to no social justice infrastructure.

Youth organizing for access to higher education and legal status has provided a stepping stone for immigrant youth to become politically active, gain exposure to different streams of social justice work, and to share responsibility for building a movement based on principles of social inclusion and justice.

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.